Five-Year Outcome of Children with 'Growing Pains': Correlations with Pain Threshold – Source: The Journal of Pediatrics, Feb 22, 2010

Objective: To examine the 5-year outcome in a cohort of children with "growing pains" and the association with changes in pain threshold.

Study Design: Subjects were 44 children with growing pains studied previously, and controls were 38 pain-free children matched by sex and age. Current status of growing pains and other pain syndromes were assessed by parental questionnaires. Pain threshold was measured with a Fisher-type dolorimeter. Outcomes were correlated with the pain threshold.

Results: We examined 35/44 patients (80%) after 5 years.

• Eighteen patients (51%) experienced resolution of growing pains.

• In 14 of the 17 patients with persistent growing pains (83%), episodes were less frequent and milder.

• The prevalence of accompanying pain syndromes decreased from 20% to 14%. No patient developed fibromyalgia.

• Pain thresholds were similar in the entire growing pains cohort and healthy controls,

• But those with continued growing pains had significantly lower thresholds than controls (P Conclusions: We confirm that growing pains has a benign prognosis and probably represents a pain amplification syndrome of early childhood.